Tatenhill Airfield welcomed an unusual vintage aircraft to its runway at the weekend.
The Avro Anson twin-engined aircraft landed at the airfield for scheduled repairs to its radio system.
The aircraft is 67 years-old having been built in 1950 and has a rich and varied history.
The Anson aircraft built by AV Roe and Co was named after British Admiral George Anson and was designed and developed for maritime reconnaissance before switching roles to that as a multi-engined aircrew training craft.
While more than 8,000 Avro Anson aircraft were built by the end of production in 1952, very few examples of the plane remain giving the crew at Tatenhill the chance to work on a very rare model.
The Avro Anson parked at Tatenhill is known as “Faithful Annie” and has an eventful past having seen service with the RAF and used for air displays in the 1970s and 80s.
The Avro Anson with the registration number G-VROE also took part in the 50th anniversary of Gulf Air in March 2000.
This event saw the aircraft fly to Bahrain and back – over a two week period – while meeting a host of celebrity stars including Harrison Ford.
During its days with the RAF, the Avro Anson began life at RAF Hamble in Hampshire alongside 252 similar aircraft by the Basic Air Navigation School.
The aircraft went on to serve with Bomber Command Communications Flight at RAF Booker and Fighter Command Communications Flight at RAF Bovington before being allocated to RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland.
In 1977 the aircraft was surplus to requirements and was sold to a buyer at Castle Donington where it then spent more than a decade participating at air shows.
It suffered an accident in 1980 but was repaired and spent periods of time during the 80s and 90s both airworthy and being stored for long periods of time.
